


Shadow the Hedgehog gets a pet hamster

by RobloxGurl



Category: Sonic X, Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, Cute, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Psychological Horror, Slice of Life, Sonadow Undertones, Sonic and Eggman working together, Sonic is tired, cream mvp, eggman is a bad parent, eggman is shadow's dad, hamster - Freeform, impending doom, shadow as a dad, shadow being happy, sonic and shadow are friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:20:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28636899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobloxGurl/pseuds/RobloxGurl
Summary: Shadow the Hedgehog adopts a pet hamster, who quickly becomes his favorite thing in the whole world. Eggman babysits. what could possibly go wrong?In this fic we explore the deterioration of Eggman's Psyche and his descent into madness.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 14





	1. The Hamster

Shadow the Hedgehog was the kind of person who others saw as cold and aloof, he didn’t have many friends because of his introverted nature and general distrust of others, but Sonic did what he could to help Shadow adjust to life on mobius and recover from his trauma at the space colony ark. The two of them have become very close indeed, he’s done a lot to help him open up. They made sure to meet up at least once a week. This week the two met up at Cream the Rabbit’s house, a bit of an odd choice, but it was convenient for Sonic as he agreed to pick her up from school that day. Shadow waited for Sonic on the bench outside her house like they agreed on. He checked his gold plated rolex at 3pm sharp and just like that the blue blur was right in front of him giving Cream a piggy back ride. Sonic puts down the cheerful girl and she thanks him for being the funnest way to travel and she skips along inside. 

“Are you done?” Shadow asked, bearing no tone or inflection in his voice.

Sonic shook his head. “haha, soon, I still have to talk to her mom. but why don’t you come in with me.” 

Shadow grunted, and did just that. Sonic went in the kitchen and caught up with Vanilla while Shadow leaned on the wall, crossing his arms, closing his eyes and waiting some more. A small hand tugged at his arms. He opened his eyes to see Cream and her chao friend Cheese.

“Hello Shadow! Do you want to see my hamster!” She smiled.

“What is a hamster?” Shadow raised a brow. 

Cream gently pulled him towards her room to show him the cute and pastel themed enclosure on her dresser, home to the softest dwarf hamster. Shadow’s face lit up. So this was a ‘hamster’. Cream opened the door so the hamster could crawl up her hand. She holds it up to him so he can get a closer look. 

“This is Yogurt, he’s 9 months old!” she said. 

Shadow’s eyes were gleaming, even his heart couldn’t help but to be melted by the cuteness of a hamster. She plops Yogurt in his hand, Shadow sits and watches intently. He could feel the little creature’s beating heart. Such a fragile life. He’s only known Yogurt for 3 minutes, but if anything happened to him he would kill everyone in this room and then himself.

“SHADOW! I’m ready, let's finish that race!” Sonic shouted as he approached them from across the house. 

“Shhh!” Shadow snapped back. Sonic’s sudden voice scared the hammy. He held the creature to his chest fluff to soothe it.

Sonic ooh’d quietly. Shadow was being so gentle, it filled Sonic with a weird sense of pride for how far he’s come. “Uh, no rush I guess.”

“I want a hamster.” He looked at Sonic intensely. “Where do I get one?”

“Whoa pal, hold on. A hamster is a big responsibility. Before you can adopt, you gotta learn Hamster 101.” He gestured with his index finger and his iconic smile. 

“Very well. I will master it in no time.” Shadow gave Cream her hamster back and adjusted his gloves. 

After they said their goodbyes the duo went to the plaza bookstore. Sonic wanted to pick up a book on hamster care.

“Im illiterate but I’m sure this book will be a big help!” Sonic said, passing it to shadow from up on the stepping stool. Shadow brushed off dust from the cover and examined it. Yes. everything you could possibly need to know about hamster care in the palm of his hands. He would not be caught unprepared anymore. 

He spent the rest of the night reading up, and in no time he was an expert. Two days later he went back to the plaza by himself to visit the pet store. There were so many hamsters waiting for a place to call home, he thought it was a shame he couldn’t adopt them all. The hamster that kept catching his eye was a female syrian with golden fur. He would call her Mary Ann. He didn’t notice he was smiling as he made the trip home.

He unlocks the door to a mostly empty house. It’s only been 5 months since he moved out of his dad’s military industrial complex in space, so it was still pretty barren in there. He unloaded all his items from the shopping trip.

Sorry Mary Ann, it will only be a little longer” Shadow whispered to the cardboard box holding his new best friend. He had to make her new home perfect. He spared no expense, the enclosure was big, had plenty of bedding to dig around in, and all the hammy essentials. He settled Mary Ann in, and decided to leave her alone for the rest of the day. This was a big day for her, and he respected that she needed her personal space.

“I know better than anyone the need to be alone.” he looked wistfully before jumping out the window seal to enjoy a midnight run. 

Months went by, and Shadow proved himself to be a great pet owner, he downright spoiled the little rodent. Unfortunately, there were some days when he just couldn’t be there to take care of her. Shadow’s communicator went off while he was watching Mary Ann run around in her hamster ball. He gets up and answers the call.

“Shadow speaking.” He sounded quite annoyed to be interrupted, not that most people could tell the difference between his neutral voice and his irritated voice. “G.U.N? hmph. Fine, i’ll do it.” He hangs up, his fist is clenched. But before he can worry about that he still has something important to arrange. He can’t just run off randomly anymore, he was a father now.

He picked up his hamster and put her back in her cage. “Sorry Mary, daddy is going to be gone for a while.” he kissed her gently on her head. The hamster shows no reaction one way or another, as it is a hamster. 

**end of chapter 1, to be continued.**


	2. The Babysitter, 5 days remain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eggman has to babysit Shadow's hamster but he runs into a little problem.

Shadow showed up outside Eggman’s base with a lot of luggage. His life here almost felt like an eternity ago. He’s greeted at the front door by the big egg himself.

“Thanks for the help…. dad.” Shadow choked on the last word. He will never get used to saying that out loud. “I’ll be back in 5 days, just… take this seriously.” he grumbled.

Egg man leaned on the doorway one arm on his hip and the other on the frame, he was looking cool. “Shadow, Shadow, it’s ME we’re talking about. When have I ever let you down?”

“If you fuck this up I am never going to forgive you.” Shadow glared ferociously and turned. He had already begun walking away. With shadow gone, Eggman picked his nose real quick and took a closer look at all of Shadow's stuff, as well as the hamster he will be babysitting for his adopted son. What's the big deal anyways? It was only a hamster he thought. Why was shadow making such a stink over it?

“Hey, BOKKUN! Go drop this junk off somewhere will you!?, I’m missing The Great British Bake Off™!” Eggman makes a run for it, daddy can’t miss his program. 

Bokkun was a little black robot Eggman liked to keep by his side. He was like a son to him. Bokkun was a whiny bitch, but still, he was a good enough courier, and should have no problem just putting Shadow’s hamster in his old cryo-chamber room. Eggman wasn’t too worried about it. Bokkun made 5 trips to and fro, dragging the suitcases on the floor and flying jankedly with the hamster in hand. the contents of the enclosure were tossed around haphazardly. Bokkun slapped the cage on Shadow’s old desk and wiped imaginary sweat off his forehead, congratulating himself on a job well done. He decided to go reward himself with some orange juice. All while poor little Mary Ann shivered and wept.

Eggman kicked off his shoes and socks and cracked open a cold one (Budweiser) while enjoying the hilarious baking antics from across the pond. He had a hearty laugh over the course of the 60 minute runtime. 

“Hmmm…. I guess I better go feed Shadow’s hamster.” He whined. He got up slowly to not upset his brittle bones. He crushed his emptied cans with his bare feet and tossed them in the recycling bin. He stopped in the kitchen and opened the fridge.

“So what do hamsters eat?” He pondered. Hey, he was a robotics and engineering expert, not a zoologist. “mm,,, cheese.”

He grabbed a plate of swiss cheese and made his way down the halls, he thought to check Shadow’s old room first. He saw that Mary Ann was hiding in her hamster dome, which was now upside down because of Bokkun’s recklessness. Eggman put a wheel of cheese in her enclosure and attempted to grab the hamster who kept running away from his hand. Not getting the message Eggman kept trying to grab her for another 2 minutes before finally yoinking her. 

“This hamster could be way more useful if Shadow would just let me stuff her in a robot. Seriously, what's the point of keeping a normal hamster around?” He shook his head before dropping the hamster back in. If you asked him, it was that darn Sonic was making Shadow’s head go dumb, whatever, he only had to do this for 4 more days. Eggman went on to sleep soundly in the night. 

The next morning Eggman woke up and stretched out his arms and legs. He decided to go check up on the hamster before making his morning omelet. 

“Goooood morning hamster.” Eggman said as he barged in Shadow’s old room. He crouched down before the hamster cage, he went pale when he saw the door was wide open…. oh god… he must have forgotten to close it before he went to sleep. His giant hands desperately rummaged through the hamster bedding. 

“Oh… uh… oopsie.” He laughed to himself. Well, this is gonna be an awkward conversation when Shadow comes back. “Eh, I’ll worry about that later. I need some eggs and bacon.”

The bare chested man draped in a bathrobe was quite relaxed while making breakfast for himself. He noticed his two robot sons Decoe and Bocoe sitting at the family table. 

“Good morning Doctor, how’s Shadow’s hamster doing?” One of them said.

“Oh, the hamster, right, I lost it.” Eggman said calmly.

The two robots looked at each other with great fear. “Doctor! We have to find that hamster. NOW.” said the other.

“Ohhh what's the big rush.” Eggman dreamworks faced at the two.

“If Shadow comes back and his hamster is gone he’s going to be PISSED.”

“So?”

“He’s the ultimate lifeform.”

“Oh...right...FUCK!” Eggman froze. Shadow’s been so chill lately he forgot he was created as a weapon of mass destruction. he dropped his spatula in the pan and ran to his computer room (Decoe turned off the stove for him dw). He makes an announcement over the PA system. 

“EMERGENCY! I LOST MY SON’S HAMSTER AND HE MIGHT KILL ME IF I DON’T FIND IT IN 4 DAYS! ANYONE WHO FINDS IT AND BRINGS IT TO ME ALIVE WILL GET A RAISE AND 2 WEEKS OF PAID VACATION. GO!” Eggman hangs up immediately after, the anxiety is kicking in. That damn rodent could be hiding anywhere in The Eggbase. Eggman rested his hand on his forehead in silent contemplation. This was bad, but Shadow doesn’t ever have to know this happened. His robots were excellent, best in the world, they’ll find the hamster in no time. In any case, this didn’t change the fact that it was time for Saturday morning cartoons. He could just unwind for another 2 hours and by then the issue will probably fix itself. He sighed of relief and kicked back in the living room.  
Decoe walked by. “Hey Doctor, shouldn’t you be looking for the hamster?”

“Its fine, I already got my bots on it, they’ll take care of it.” he shrugged.

“But-”

“ITS UNDER CONTROL, BOCOE! GOD.” He raised his voice, which was enough to send Decoe running the other way. He’ll see, this whole scuffle was just a tiny bump in the road. So eggman shuffled deeper in his armchair and let his fears melt away… except, it wasn’t so simple. Hours passed, and reports kept turning up empty. Eggman got up and ranted to his bots.

“So not one of you boltheads came up with ANYTHING! Nothing at all!” said Eggman.

“Well uh… at 3:04:59 pm the east door was opened twice.” one bot recounted.

“Oooh wonderful, so it just decided to take an afternoon stroll. GODDAMNIT WHICH ONE OF YOUSE WAS IT?” he frothed. 

“Please sir, watch the accusatory language, we are on your side.” the bot took offense. 

Another bot chimed in. “I think It was Bokkun.”

“it was not Bokkun.” Eggman said blankly.

“It was soooo Bokkun” a different bot added.

Another robot shook their head. “Okay I was the one who opened the door, I was just picking up the egg delivery. I didn’t smuggle any hamster out. It's probably still here, we just haven’t looked hard enough.”

“TRAITOR! You’ve doomed me!” Eggman moaned loudly. His stress was starting to make it hard for him to think clearly. The accused bot threw up their hands and walked away, they were so done. Just as Eggman tried to take some breaths, his communicator went off. Shadow was calling. Eggman never hung up on anyone faster than he did just now. Shadow never has to find out. 

Eggman adjusted his glasses. “I’m sorry for my outburst. I will now magnanimously be joining you on the hamster search party.” He smiled nervously.

Sure enough Eggman did start looking for the hamster personally, but it didn’t take long before he got bored. Searching was a long tedious process. He scratched his head, what a conundrum he’s gotten himself into this time. If he was as fast as Sonic, he’d probably already be done. 

Suddenly Eggman got a brilliant idea.

**end of chapter 2, to be continued.**


	3. The Help, 4 days remain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eggman outsources his hamster hunt to sonic

Sonic was enjoying a nap when Tails alerted him that Eggman sent him a voicemail. 99% of Sonic’s calls went to voicemail because he hated the idea of people being able to call him at all times, namely, he hated the idea of Amy Rose abusing that feature. So it was the voicemail life for Sonic.

“Well, lay it on me Tails. Lets see what that Egghead is up to now.” 

Tails activated the answering machine to relay his message. “Sonic you HAVE to help me! It’s an emergency! I promise It's not a trap! I'M DYING! IF YOU DON’T GET OVER HERE I’M GOING TO DIE! THIS IS NOT A TRAP! If you don’t come save me there will be blood on your hands! MY BLOOD! Because I’m going to die! Can you live with yourself Sonic? Knowing that you could be held responsible for my untimely death? How will you sleep at night! So get over here right now! FOR REALSIES! I NEED YOU! bye. (please don’t ignore this)”

The life in Sonic’s body just evaporated, it was 9am on a saturday. sonic begrudgingly got up and borrowed the phone from Tails and called him back. 

“SONIC YOU DO CARE!” Eggman didn’t let the phone ring for even a second, the response was instantaneous. 

“Yup, i’m here.” Sonic said unenthused. “What’s going on?”

“I’m going to tell you but first you have to make a promise.”

Sonic sighed. “What?”

“Promise you won’t tell Shadow.”

“Fine, I won’t tell Shadow.” Sonic rubbed his temples.

“Okay. Here’s the sitch. I lost his hamster.”

“YOU WHAT?!” Sonic exclaimed.

“Shh shh! Not so loud. It’s fine! It’s completely fine! but well… Can you help me find it? I don’t want to die.” Eggman whimpered.

“Fine… I’ll help, but not for your sake. I’m doing this because my moral code won’t let me sleep when there’s a hamster in danger.”

“Wonderful! Also, we’re still clear on not telling Shadow, right?” Eggman pleaded.

Sonic hung up. Being well, himself, only took a minute to get to Eggman’s base. When Eggman saw him on the entrance camera he was practically tripping over himself getting to the door as fast as he could.

“SONIC! I’M SAVED! Okay. Let’s get looking!”

“You had one job, ONE JOB.” Sonic looked up at the towering man with his arms firmly crossed and his attitude fully enabled. 

“Oh lets not get hung up on the details, we’ll find the little pest and we can forget this whole thing ever happened, alright?” He attempts to charm sonic with his million dollar smile.

“Shadow deserves to know the truth.” 

“Well you can’t tell him now, he won’t be able to focus during his good guy work. You’ll doom him too!”

“Fine. We’ll talk about this later.” Sonic let himself in to see what he could find. Eggman cleared his sweat and went the opposite way to cover more ground. You’d think with so many helping hands this hamster wouldn’t be so hard to find in the first place, but with Sonic on his side there was no way he could fail. 

Eggman went to the kitchen and set out a hamster trap. A bucket propped up with a stick tied to a string to be pulled. And the bait? Mixed nuts. He found a hiding place and staked out. Meanwhile sonic has already made ten laps over the whole building. Sure he’s been everywhere, but it’s hard to notice something so small when going so fast. He makes it to the kitchen to share his report.

“I’ve been everywhere and I can’t find Mary Ann. I’m going to tell Shadow. He might know how to lure her out.”

“NO! you’re not telling him anything! You promised me sonic! You promised!” He pointed right at him.

“Well I can’t be here all day!”

“Wow Thanks for nothing Sonic the Fakehog. I’ll just call one of my real friends for help.” Eggman makes another call. “Hey Rogue-“

“Are you serious?” he exclaimed. 

“Rogue and I have a very strong understanding of the values of discretion, something you could really benefit from.” He scoffed. “Now go do something useful.”

Sonic rolled his eyes and ran through the halls once again. He stops upon hearing crying echoing nearby. He follows the source to Bokkun being bullied by two taller scarier robots. He was being held upside down by his ankles and shook up and down. It was a pitiable sight to be sure. 

“What’s gotten into you guys?” Sonic intervened and took Bokkun by force. 

“Waaaaah! Sonic *sniff* they’re being mean to me because i’m the doctors favorite! *sniff sniff*.” He managed to utter through all the tears. “They’re telling lies about me because they can’t deal with how they’ll never ever be on my level!”

“Bokkun is under arrest of the murder of the protected lifeform ‘Mary Ann’.” 

“The promotion is ours!” the other bot said gleefully.

“IT WASN’T ME! You have NO proof! I don’t even LIKE the taste of hamster” Bokkun screamed and kicked.

Even if this was probably a lie, it was still very concerning. Until now, Sonic didn’t consider the possibility that the reason no one can find her was because they were already too late. For now he’ll investigate this on his own, because he really did not feel like talking to ol’ Robotnik right now. Maybe he could run back real quick and borrow one of Tail’s X-Ray goggles. Just in case Bokkun really did eat Shadow’s hamster.... for some reason.

Sonic ran out and came back with not just the goggles, but with Tails and lunch too. This whole ordeal will be a lot less painful if he’s going through it with his best friend. But this rubbed Eggman the wrong way. This was a clear violation of his trust he’d say.

“Sonic, I never gave you permission to invite anyone else! This is MY secret base, you can’t just walk all over here all willy nilly doing whatever you want.”

Sonic lowered his really cool goggles down slightly to sell the ‘tude. “You either let us both in, or we both walk out.”

Eggman grumbled under his breath having no choice but to just let Tails touch his stuff. “Just stay away from my gundam collection!”  
Sonic takes a loud sip of his blueberry slurpee, and heelies through the front door.

Eggman looked to the orange colored sky, where did all the time go? This better all be worth it he thought. He decided he’d look for another 3 hours and go to bed. Sonic and Tails took their search to the robo quarters and found something shocking. All out warfare. Furniture overturned, exposed circuits, and brother against brother.

“Why are you all fighting each other?” Sonic asked. “You guys are being real dunder bolts.”

The bots all turned their full attention to their most unlikely ally. 

“Well?!” he added.

They seemed to be showing remorse, well as much remorse as they could with their lack of faces. One bot was brave enough to finally break the silence.

“Doctor Robotnik promised 2 weeks of paid vacation time to whoever brought him the hamster. So… we’re thinning out the competition.” they throw in a powerful punch at the robot they’ve been pinning for good measure.

“Wait, so you mean to tell me that you haven’t been looking AT ALL?” Said sonic.

“Correct.”

“Well knock it off.” 

“Do you guys mind if we scan you all?” Tails said innocently. “I brought my x-rays so I could find out if any of you are hiding Mary Ann inside.”

“HEY THAT CAT HAS A GOOD POINT!” One bot said before prying open another bot’s chest plate.

“Up yours too EP-103!” roared the exposed bot who just tore off the original bot’s face plate. Tails is horrified. Sonic turns to the cameras in Eggman’s ceiling and smiles smugly. 

“hahahah! You know what they say, the early droid gets the rodent.”"

“Sonic people are dying!” Tails snapped. 

“Don’t worry tails, these gear heads can’t slow me down! wink!” he ran around in circles making everyone dizzy and bump into each other. For good measure he ties them all up, they weren’t really helping anyways. Tails got ample time to go scanning everyone safely, after the lost bot he looked too sonic and frowned.

“Whats the matter buddy?”

“Sonic… I…. she’s not here. I couldn’t find any trace.”

Sonic sighed exasperatedly. “Tails… can we call it for the day. I’m so tired.”

They exchanged a nod and went home for the night. Only 3 days remained. 

**end of chapter.**


	4. The Other Help, 3 days remain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Sonic and Tails aren't enough, Eggman invites Rouge to the search party.

Sonic and Tails met at Eggman’s egg lobby first thing in the morning, he had something to announce. The last trick up his sleeve, the one that will finally get Shadow’s hamster back. Tails seemed pretty optimistic, but Sonic was all but worn out by his antics by now. The head honcho himself stepped with an over confident grin on his face and a spring in his step.

“Gentlemen! I know we weren’t so successful in the past, but today will be the day! Because Rogue and I finally worked out a deal! She’s going to help us find that gerbil.”

“Hamster.” Tails corrected.  
“Yes, hamster.” Eggman replied.

delicate footsteps echoed down the hallway.

“Hello boys~” The woman of the hour made her dazzling entrance and took her place by his side. she was covered in glitter and it got all over the carpet. Was this a thoughtless accident or intentional malice? That was anyone’s guess.

Sonic sighed. “Rouge huh? That’s an interesting pick.” Personally, he didn’t mind her. While she was a troublemaker with questionable morals, when push came to shove she was good at heart. What he didn’t understand was why Eggman would time and time again give her free reign in his base. But would he speak up about it? Of course not, if Rogue wants to install a trojan on HIS laptop, it's no skin off his nose.

Eggman cleared his throat. “She is a master at finding treasures, and what greater treasure is there than my continued existence? That's what I say Sonic T. Hedgehog! We only have 3 days to fix this problem, but I’m sure Rouge will have no issue with this tiny mission, right Rouge?”

“That's right Robotnic. You can always count on me.” She smiled sweetly with her hands behind her back. Sonic eyed her suspiciously, but he had to stop when she winked at him and it frankly made him too uncomfortable to keep staring. 

“Before I dismiss you rotten lot. Sonic, do you have anything to report from yesterday?” Robotnic asked. 

Sonic sweated. “Uh…. noooo, not exactly….. But I haven't looked outside yet.”

“Very well.” he grumbled. “what am I even hiring you for, to stand around? Go look outside.” he mumbled some more. Sonic rolled his eyes and dismissed himself. 

“The rest of ya’... Do your thing.” Eggman turned and hiked down the egghalls. Tails and Rouge are the only ones still in the room. She looks to him next with expecting eyes.

“Hey smart guy, do me a solid and tell me where Eggman keeps his hard drives.” 

“uhm… down the hall and take two rights then a left.” Tails' voice was soft and laced with worry,he felt it would be rude not to give directions, but something about the interaction rubbed him the wrong way. 

“Thanks Tails, you ARE my little pogchamp.” she fluttered away happily. Oh what has he wrought? Oh well! It’s Eggman’s problem now! Tails decides to check on the robots, who, unknown to Eggman, are all still tied up as to prevent them from killing each other. 

The doctor’s first point of investigation for today was the computer room, he didn’t think he’d need it, but since this little hamster was causing such a stir he knew it was time to review security footage. There was so much footage to shift through, he truly dreaded it. At least he had a time reference to go off of. So he cracked his knuckles and got to it. No time to waste. 

The automatic door behind him slides open. 

“Perfect. Robot butler, brew coffee for me. doppio espresso with cream. chop chop.” his eyes were so glued to the screen he couldn’t be bothered to check who he was really talking to.

“I’m not making you coffee.” Sonic said.

“Oh it's you. Go away, I'm busy.” He mumbled.

“With what?” He peered over the keyboard, just barely being tall enough to see the console. 

“Security footage. Maybe I’ll find something.”

“Oh! You should’ve done that first!” Sonic said surely. 

Eggman sang back his words in a mocking tone. He felt like the hedgehog was condescending him. Not that most people could tell the difference between Sonic’s neutral voice and his patronizing voice. His smug little face made him want to shrivel up in an angry ball sometimes. “As a matter of fact, Olgilvie ‘Sonic’ Maurice the Hedgehog, I DID think of it first, I just hoped I wouldn’t have to.”

He pulled up all the recordings for the month. Between the length of the recordings and all the camera’s he did have, there must have been an entire terabyte of data. To save space footage is deleted every 30 days. Sonic was paying good attention. 

“We’ll start with the day of the disappearance, and hallway 2-b.” His voice trailed off smoothly into dad noise ASMR while he scrubbed through the low quality grainy footage. Sonic got bored very quickly. 

“Okay Egghead, I’ll leave you to it.” 

“TELL ONE OF MY BOTS TO GET ME THAT COFFEE SONIC, I DON’T CARE WHO!” Eggman shouted at the hedgehog who by now was way out of earshot. 

Sonic runs past Rouge in the halls, he backtracks just a bit to see what she’s up to.

“Well well well, whatcha doing?” he asks wryly. 

Rouge jumps and drops her flashdrive. She picks it up and shoots him a stink eye and a silent ‘hmph’. “Well, I WAS installing malware on Eggman’s laptop before you got here.”

“Really, that’s allll you did?” he looked at her with knowing eyes and a sneaky grin. 

“FINE, I confess, I’ve also been replacing his blueprints with amateur erotica. I’m sorry! I couldn’t resist!” She smiled playfully.

Sonic had a genuine laugh then went deadpan. “Seriously though, have you been looking for Shadow’s hamster at all?” 

“I can tell you with 100% certainty that there is no hamster in this room.” She nodded proudly.

“Can’t you try a little harder, for Shadow’s sake.” He pleaded.

Rouge sighed. “Okay, okay … fine. I’ll try harder.”

“Thanks.” Sonic shot her a thumbs up and ran away.

Rouge rubbed her chin losing herself in thought, how would she help Shadow? She liked the guy, and she liked looking for things, but the things she liked looking for were shiny, valuable, or at least good gossip material. A pet hamster, even the hamster of someone important to her just couldn’t hold her attention for very long. She needed some brain food. she took a seat and nibbled on some fuego taki’s she bought on the way over. Nope, it wasn’t helping. She began absentmindedly scrolling on her cyber watch. The bat’s eyes lit up when she found an ad for a local detective agency, a cheap one! She dials them up, someone on the other end picks up quickly, someone with a jolly and guttural voice.

“Hello! You’ve reached Team Choatix: Detective Agency! Are you looking to hire?”

“I sure am!”

The disembodied voice was overjoyed and giddy. “Awesome! Tell me everything I need to know!”

And Rouge was happy to oblige. 

Meanwhile Sonic was catching up with Tails. Some of the robots were set free and they weren’t destroying each other, at least one of their problems was taken care of today. 

“Hey buddy, how’s it going.”

“I guess it’s fine.” tails replied. “I just don’t think Mary Ann is here. I know its a long shot. but I think I’d be better off looking outside of the Eggbase.”

“NO ONE’S GOING ANYWHERE!” A voice boomed from across the room. The duo turn and face none other than Vector the Crocodile and his crew.

“Vector?!” Sonic exclaimed. “What are you doing here? Did eggman wrap you guys into this too?”

Vector laughed. “Eggman? We have a strict policy about never accepting a job from that guy! Rouge is offering us a 40/60 cut of what she was getting paid to find that hamster.”

“Isn’t that the same as working for Eggman? You’re still doing work for him, even if you’re following the orders of a middleman.” Tails told.

Espio shook his head. “It’s a perfectly reasonable loop-hole.”

“And you can’t leave because you two are prime suspects!” Charmy added.

“Suspects!?” Sonic and Tails said in unison.

“Well, It’s too soon to be sure, but you can’t be let go until we’ve gotten to the bottom of this. Rouge shared all the details with me, and all I can say, is that something fishy is afoot.” Vector waved his notes around.

Sonic crossed his arms. “Nothing fishy is going on, Eggman is just a bad pet owner.”

“And that kind of thought process is why we’ll be the ones walking away with the reward money and not you! Hahaha!” Vector declared. “Everyone here has a motivation for taking her. Maybe they want to be the one to save him by bringing her back just in time, or perhaps… cause a little trouble for him by letting Shadow come home to an empty cage.”

“That’s just not our style Vector. I’d thought you’d know me better.” Sonic said.

“You’re a good guy, but I can’t cross out any of these hypotheses just yet. But don’t let being accused of kidnapping get you down!” Vector patted Sonic on his spikey back in an attempt to reassure him everything was cool between them. They stuck together while they went off to find clues.

Rouge flew in after they left and landed just in front of them.

“Surprise!”

“Does Eggman know you invited them?”

“Sonic, relax, these guys are professionals. Why are you being so uptight lately? You used to be cool.” She bemoaned.

He took a deep breath. “Sorry, I’m just getting really sick of being here all the time. Being bossed around by Eggman, not being able to be honest with my friend, no one taking this seriously except ME. It's exhausting.”

Rouge tapped his shoulder. “Sonic, I know just what you need. just… hang in there, hot stuff.”

Rouge flew out the window, and would not be seen again for the rest of that day. When it came time to report, no one knew what to say about her disappearance. At first he was angry at her for inviting the detectives without telling him, but he got over it, he was too desperate to turn down free* help.


	5. The Chaos, 2 days remain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eggman gets a call from a familiar face. Rouge tries to lighten the mood. Even more guests are invited to the Eggbase.

The air in the Egg lounge was somber today. Sonic, Tails, Rogue, The Chaotix, and Eggman were all seated at the round table in total silence. No one had even made a dent in the complimentary deviled egg plate. Eggman stood up.

“Now that we’re all here, Here’s to another productive day of hamster hunting.”

Charmy raised his hand.

“Yes… bee?” Eggman said.

“I thought we were supposed to be rescuing the hamster, I didn’t bring any weapons.”

Eggman buried his face in his hands and inhaled deeply. Espio put his hand on his head and looked him in the eyes. Charmy gasped silently upon realization. 

“Shadow will be here in 2 days. The morning of the day after tomorrow. We are running out of time. Sonic, despite your complete failure, you’ve been a good leader throughout all this. Have any encouraging words for the rest of the crew?”

Everyone turned to Sonic, but the hedgehog they all knew and loved was not with them. In his place was a bitter and restless man on the verge of snapping. His expression was vacant, and his eyes glued on Eggman. 

“Thanks Sonic, very cool. So there you have it folks! Get out there and make me proud!” Eggman clapped and cheered. The room stayed silent, the eggman’s energy deflated. He sighed. “Tough crowd. Well, if you need me, I’ll be on the monitors reviewing footage like yesterday.”

The meeting was dismissed so the search could officially begin. Sonic was much slower than usual today, instead of running out of his seat at the soonest opportunity he dragged his feet all the way to the door. Rouge tapped his shoulder before he went, she was smiling brightly. 

“Sonic, meet me in the egg hangar at 5 o’ clock.”

“Rouge, what are you doing this time?”

“It’s a surprise, sweetie. But i’ll give you a little hint… there’s gonna be a hot-dog bar and chili fountain.” She winked.

Sonic’s eyes widened, but his face definitely did not say joy. His surprise settled into frustration. Rouge flew out, making Sonic the last to leave. He opened the sliding door to Eggman’s computer room. He was totally entrenched in the footage.

“That better be my coffee disturbing me right now.” Eggman said without looking back.

“No. only me again.”

“I'm dying here, Sonic, a man needs his cuppa joe in the morning.”

“Forget that! How haven’t you found ANYTHING useful yet? You’ve been doing this for hours.”

“It’s harder than it looks. First off, this footage is so grainy anything as small as a hamster is hardly going to show up. Secondly, Bokkun, bless his heart, just HAD to put that hamster in the one room I can’t put cameras in. So I have to check every room around Shadow’s room and just guess which direction it went in! Now i’m just checking any camera feed randomly just hoping SOMETHING, anything will show up. and I’m out of luck if the hamster got out through the pipes or vents. BELIEVE IT OR NOT I NEVER THOUGHT TO INSTALL SECURITY CAMERAS IN THE AC!” 

Sonic nodded along tiredly. 

“I’m at my wits end, hedgehog.” The deflated egg continued shifting through more footage. The screen turned black without warning, the phone icon soon appeared with Shadow’s photo. The jarring ringtone broke the doctor out of his lull and induced panic. He hovered over the decline call button, but Sonic’s hand forced him to accept.

“SONIC YOU MOTHER FUCK- Hi son.” His tone took a swift 180 when Shadow appeared on Facetime. Shadow rose a single brow. Wherever he was, it was very cold and industrial, far removed from the simple warmth of an adoring hamster.

“Doctor… why is Sonic-”

“Don’t worry about that! How’s my big boy doing on his big trip?”

“Please don’t talk down to me Doctor, I am 50 years old and legally speaking: your uncle.” his tone was calm and lended itself more towards mild disappointment than outright frustration. He cleared his throat. “I’m not interested in talking about my mission. I am calling to check in, I would like to see Mary Ann right now.” If one looked closely, they would see the faintest smile form on his lips when mentioning his beloved pet.

Sonic got riled up, with a deep breath he was about to unleash all his pent up frustration, Eggman put a stop to that real quick by shoving his entire fist in his mouth hole. Sonic gurgled and squirmed on the floor Eggman pressed him against. This should keep him quiet for now, but Eggman knew this wouldn’t work for long, he needed to wrap up this call fast. Shadow leaned in to his monitor baring a shocked expression, but Eggman kept his cool and smiled cooly.

“I’m sure little Mary Ann would love to see you too Shadow, but right now she’s sleeping soundly, hamsters are nocturnal afterall. You wouldn’t want to wake a sleeping angel, would you?”

Shadow went quiet for a few moments, he smiled a little brighter after that. “Ah, You make a good point. Is she doing well?”

“She’s doing the best.”

“I’m grateful, truly. It’s good to know I can trust you, I don’t give many people that chance. If that trust was ever broken well… it would be devastating...but not for me!” He flared up near the end, harbouring the restrained fury of a hungry flame, then settled down. That reserved shell was capable of retrieving hidden passion just as well as it could hide it, all in the matter of seconds. Even eggman was feeling the heat as he tucked at his collar desperately bidding time for an out. 

“Well it was certainly nice to see you too! Bye!”

“Don’t forget! I return the day after tomorrow!” Shadow was able to spit it out just before the doctor hung up on him. The doctor took a deep deep breath and finally let Sonic escape his grasp. That hedgehog was seething red. 

“THAT'S IT! I can’t take this anymore! I’m going to tell Shadow the truth.” Sonic shouted. Eggman scrambled for the door lock, slamming it faster than sonic could react. Sonic looked daggers at him, and he met him with quiet resignation, totally empty inside. Eggman’s mustache was unkempt and floppy, this miserable man was drenched in sweat and fear, his emotional turmoil had him laying against his desk chair hovering however the button that trapped them in. 

His head turned slowly to the hedgehog, no light would touch his black shades that stared into Sonic’s like the void. Sonic found himself paralyzed by the depravity in his broken spirit. Eggman spoke up with a voice that was barely audible, one characterized by its low course tremble. “No… you’re not going anywhere.”

Sonic’s anger turned to concern. Sonic banged his fists on the door, nothing made a dent. The doctor slowly rose from his slump, his chuckles were broken by his slimy coughing fits. He was just as tired as Sonic was, but so much more desperate. Sonic kept banging, and he kept banging. Finally! He made a solid dent. He hit harder until! BAM! The door fell apart, Sonic made a run for it, but Eggman was not one to give up so easy! For a man of his physique, he was surprisingly nimble, He kept up with Sonic through the halls, their chase cut through the Egg Hangar, the way out was just in reach. Eggman hits a button on a remote controller. A steel cage drops from the sky and traps Sonic for good. 

“Heghehehgheh… Who’s too slow now? Hedgeslug.” His manic laughter devolved into coughing. Sonic bared his teeth.

“You won’t get away with this.”

“We’ll see about that. You’ve outlived your usefulness anyways Sonic, I don’t need you anymore. I have Rouge, The Chaotix, and all my robots on my side. Loyally dedicating themselves to the cause. I don’t need you…” Eggman walked away with his hands behind his back. Sonic punched the bars, but all he accomplished was bruising his fists. He took a seat. At least he knew Rouge was planning to meet him here anyways.

Two hours later, two sets of footsteps echo in the the hangar. Rouge and Bokkun have arrived. The messenger robo was carrying two big crates. When he set them down, a loud thud was heard. Rouge patted him on the head, he was grinning ear to ear.

“Rouge! Boy am I glad to see you! You’ve gotta get me out of here!”

Rouge grimaced. “Oh Sonic, about that. Eggman already filled me in. I can’t let you out yet.”

“Why not?!”

“Well… it’s just because you’re so fast. If I let you leave you’ll find Shadow and bring him back here in like 5 minutes flat. And, then we wouldn’t be able to throw our party.” 

“Priorities Rouge! Priorities!”

“Sorry hon, but I’ll set you free after the party! I promise!”

Sonic was forced to watch as Rouge and Bokkun decorated the Egg Hangar with balloons, streamers, and other such things. Choatix caught wind and sided with her. Espio left and came back with Knuckles the Echidna and DJ equipment, they set up the electronics together and rehearsed. Apparently they used to be in a band years ago. Espio provided instrumentals while Knuckles rapped. Sonic thought he knew him, but he really went his whole life without knowing how good Knuckle’s flow was. Sonic tried to get Knuckles to free him too, but Knuckles declined, this was Knuckle’s first gig in ages, he couldn’t let this chance slide. That hurt, but what really hurt is when Tails showed up to set up lights instead of getting Sonic out of the cage. Such betrayal!

Everything was coming together. Christmas lights on the aircrafts, colorful tables topped with enough snacks to feed 30 people, and even that ridiculous Chili fountain and hotdog bar Rouge promised. As 5 O’ Clock drew near, complete strangers and even many of Sonic’s friends began trickling in. Rouge walked by Sonic’s cage and leaned against it.

“Hey sugar, how you holding up?”

“LET ME OUT!” 

Rouge recoiled, a little bit of liquid flew out of her wine glass. “oh my!”

A green hedgehog in a leather jacket approached her from behind and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, Rouge smoothly settled into his grasp. The suave hedgehog lowered his sunglasses to get a good look at Sonic. “Hey babe, this guy giving you trouble?”

“No, I’m good.” She smiled at him.

Sonic’s jaw dropped. “You invited SCOURGE!? I thought you two weren’t talking anymore!”

Rouge shrugged. “What can I say, he knows how to show a girl a good time.”

“And you… Aren’t you supposed to be in Zone Jail?”

“I’m on parole, blue! I’ve been a good boy… haaaaaaah.” He adjusted his sunglasses and bit his lips. He seemed to be enjoying the view. specifically, the female guests. “Come on baby, I’m tired of looking at this zero. Let’s have some fun.”

He pulled Rouge away, she stopped him to ask sonic one last thing. “Hold on… Hey Sonic, do you want anything from the hotdog bar?”

Sonic pouted and mumbled angrily. Rouge smiled and stood by patiently. Sonic slumped and frowned. “T...two chili supremes...please.”

The chili dogs were delicious, but not enough to cheer up poor Sonic, who was forced to sleep on the floor while the party raged on. Bokkun snuck out when he got sleepy, he was still wearing a party hat and covered in confetti. He knocked on Eggman’s computer room door.

“Papaa… tuck me in bed! tell me a story.”

Eggman backed away from the computer and kneeled by the little messenger robo. 

“Bokkun, where did all this party stuff come from?”

“From Rouge’s party!”

“Her WHAT?!” Eggman growled.

Bokun pointed to the monitor with the video feed of the hangar. 

“Why I oughta!” Eggman rolled up his sleeves and marched furiously, pushing Bokkun out of the way resulting in an instant K.O. 

When Eggman first got in, no one noticed him in the midst of strobing lights and dubstep. Everyone was dancing and singing and eating. Espio was up on stage scratching it while some of Eggman’s bots threw it back. In the other corner, mobians were taking bets on a robot fighting ring. Bodies of scrap metal piled up. Eggman huffed loudly while he pushed and shoved all the intruders out of his path with tremendous force, the music did a great job of drowning out all their reactions.

“ROUGE THE BAT! SHOW YOURSELF!” Eggman screamed despite the futility. He discovered her making out with Scourge under the drapes of the punch table. Rouge was slow to notice.

“hahahaaaa… hiyaaaaaah, eggshhman. hic!” She forced herself to stay up while she was unsteady.

“Pffffftttshhhh… Look ah shish dude. Whattah turbo dweeb! SNORT!” Scourge broke into a fit of laughter.

Eggman swooped rouge up by the back of her top, dangling her in the air. 

“Aaaaa….. baby...no don go… you’re sho shesxy….” Scourge giggled to himself as he was falling sleep mid conversation. Eggman picked him up by the collar too and threw them both outside the eggbase and out in the wild. 

Eggman ran back to the generator and unplugged almost everything, most of the lights went off causing a murmur in the crowd. Eggman walked up on stage and threw espio off his DJ booth. He gripped the microphone with force and ‘ahem’ed loudly to get everyone’s attention.

“EVERYONE! THE PARTY IS OVER! That’s right! Get out of here! All of you! You have 60 seconds until I tell my bots to open fire on you miserable rats! GO ON! SHOO! SHOO!”

People scrambled out of the Egg Carrier, tripping on each other for the exit. Eggman fired two warning shots into the sky. 

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOO! AND DON’T COME BACK!”

Sonic woke up in a cold sweat. Very soon, it was just him, Eggman, and the robots. Sonic gulped. The two made eye contact, Eggman huffed and puffed. He turned off the rest of the lights, and went to bed, leaving Sonic to his own devices once again.


	6. The Fall of Egg, 1 day remains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> eggman is struggling

It was the dawn of the final day, and all that remained was Eggman. He has driven everyone else out of his life. No more Chaotix, no more Rouge, no more Sonic. Even many of his robots were out of commission from partying too hard. Eggman held the daily report in the egg hangar by Sonic’s cage. 

“Good morning crew. So. As you all know, Shadow comes back… tomorrow morning. And… we still have not found Mary Ann. Yes I have finally learned her name.”

Eggman paused to gauge Sonic’s reaction, as the only other person in the room. Sonic glares at Eggman without saying a word. 

“Hahaha, I know you’ve been drilling that in my head for a long time, Sonic.”

He pauses for Sonic, who remained silent. 

“Come on! Say something snarky! I know you want to!” 

Sonic averted his gaze and crossed his arms. 

“Ooogh! Stop that! You’re acting like Shadow. You know that?! It’s maddening! I’m not letting you out by the way! You’re here forever! What do you think of that? HUH?”

Sonic did not respond. 

“Hello! Doctor to Hedgehog! SO you’re just going to sit there and mope all day? Well mope all you want. I don’t care! Your guilt tripping isn’t going to work on me. I am an evil genius. So you can stop that already.” He threw up his hands and walked out. “FORGET IT! You’re useless anyways! The search is going great by the way, I’m going to find that hamster today. because this time I’ll be doing all the looking myself. You know what they say! If you want a job done right, you must do it yourself.”

Even as the doctor was walking awake, the hedgehog remained steadfast in his silent conviction. The doctor even looked back briefly to make sure. Well, who cared what sonic was doing, he isn’t important anymore. Eggman certainly didn’t care. Not at all. Not even a little bit. Sonic could have fun moping, while he saved his hide. 

He goes to his kitchen, he’s heard that hamster often end up hiding behind appliances, like the fridge, or in places like cabinets or shelves. The kitchen had a lot of both. He pulls the fridge off the cables, and drats! The hamster isn’t even there.  
Bocoe and Decoe walk in to find their father holding the fridge over his head with sheer anger.

Bocoe whispers to his dear brother Decoe. “Whoa….The Doctor is going un loco coco!”

Decoe bent down to whisper back. “Indeed, I think his brain is getting scrambled.”

Eggman’s neck snapped in their direction. “Do you call my wellbeing into question? Why I oughta recycle you two for spare parts.”

It was just enough to send the duo running the other way, a stack of papers fell on the floor in their hurry. Eggman throws the fridge at the bots, and hits them with terrifying precision. lightning crackles underneath the metal coffin. He lifts the fridge to see the carnage, they are broken, but not beyond repair. He grumbled to himself while he held their shut down bodies.

“Great, now I need replacements.” He mumbles while heading over to the closet to store the brothers in the meantime. He puts them down and notices something else already inside.

His jaw dropped. “Scratch and Grounder?! I forgot about those two!” He kneeled down and wiped the dust off Grounder’s forehead. His hand was now covered in a thick layer of dust, and Grounder’s forehead shined clearly. “Huh, I wonder why I put them here. Oh well, lets take these puppies out for a spin.”

The chicken and steam roller themed robots saw the light for the first time in forever. He blew a mighty gust of wind on the duo, freeing them of their dust prison. They’d still need a lot of cleaning even after this. The doctor flipped their switches and watched them reactivate. Scratch opened his eyes first.

“ooghhhhhh… what the...Robotnic? How long has it been?” Scratch uttered meekly.

“Hmmm, I don’t know, 30 years or so.” The Doctor scratched his chin.

“THIRTY YEARS?!” Scratch jumped up shaking off all his weariness with it.

“Mmm, give or take.”

Grounder was finally awake as well, his psyche was shaken to the core. “Oh my god… we missed so much.”

“Yeah yeah, now go away, before you get on my nerves.’ The doctor shooed them away. The two stumbled out like newborn fawns unaware of their surroundings.

He closes the closet door, and wonders what the deal with that stack of paper was. He picks them up then turns the paper over. It’s a Lost pet poster, that damn hamster’s face was already etched in the dark recesses of his mind, whenever he closed his eyes, there she was, he met her beady eyes once more. Those soulless eyes. Those unknowing eyes. He clenches the sheet. He tears up the sheet. paper shredding fall gracefully to the floor.

“This is all your fault. But you won’t get the better of me!”

Eggman marches back to the kitchen and overturns more furniture. He opens every cabinet, he throws out all its contents. In a fit of anger he reloads his laser blaster and shoots a hole in the dry wall. He pokes his face in.

“Come out here you furry freak! I know you’re in here.” He shuffles his hands in his back pocket to retrieve seeds. He scatters them in the walls and pipes. “Yeah, you like that? come on, come out, get your seeds. COME ON! WE DON’T HAVE ALL DAY!”

“Scratch! Grounder!” He yelled out. The two were very fast to return. They shyly stick their heads out of the hallway.

“y-yes.” Grounder says.

“I want you two to watch this hole for me. and if you see a hamster, catch it and return it to me.”

scratcher gulped. “I-is that all?”

“Yup.”

“Is it a super powered hamster? The new sonic?”

“Nope, just a normal hamster. But it does belong to the new sonic, so don’t mess this up.”

“O h” they said in unison. they stand in the room, dumbfounded, still dazed from their thirty year nap. The doctor was done here, he leaves them with no further adieu. He still needed to cover so much more ground. So much in so little time. For it was already noon. 

All around his base he tore up anything in his path, anywhere a hamster could be, anywhere a hamster couldn’t be. The doctor crawled to Sonic’s cage on all fours. His giant hands clinging to the iron bars. Sonic’s eyes slowly shifted to him, he didn’t seem to care at all.

“Sonic… you idiot. I bet you like seeing me like this huh, well take a good long look, because this is the last time you’ll ever see me!” He slid down, still gripping the bars. “Okay. I admit it. I’m… I’m … I'm afraid. Ugh. That was gross coming out of my mouth.”

Sonic turned his head, finally. 

“‘Mary Ann is gone. And she’s never coming back.” Now the doctor was pulling on his mustache. “I have to run away, start a new life. Change my name. I’ll have to law low.”

Sonic took a breath. “That’s never going to work.” 

“I’ll find a way.”

He winced. “You’re kind of hard to miss.”

“Shut up you blue buffon. I'm out here pouring out my feelings, and you mock me!”

“To tell you the truth Eggman, I hope you don’t find Mary Ann. Shadow is going to be here soon, and when that happens, you’re going to get exactly what you deserve.”  
“That’s where you’re wrong hedge-”

“Wrong? hahahahhaaa…. Are you blind? We looked everywhere, and you aren’t going to do any better. it’s over Eggman. you have to accept your fate with dignity.” The hedgehog managed to crack an exasperated smile. As weary as he was, the thought of retribution brought him life. “You’re finished egg head.”

Eggman turned violently and slammed his fists on the cage. the iron vibrated and hummed a sharp note. The doctor stood up and marched away. “YOU! You don’t know ANYTHING!”

Sonic laughed sinisterly. Eggman froze, he felt a strange pressure envelope and paralyze him. the colors of the world faded to gray, while sonic stayed the same. Sonic spoke up again, but, it was different, he sounded like his father. “Julian, I always knew you would end up this way. cowering and alone.”

“J-julian? W-who are you?! You’re not Sonic!”

Sonic phased through the steel cage like a ghost to meet him. “You’re asking the wrong questions right now. You’re going to die tomorrow, think about what legacy you’re leaving behind. Is this, what you wanted?”

Eggman clenched his chest in pain. His legs began to shake. “I’m not a failure! I'm not!”

“All the fallen colonies, all your failed schemes…You’re in ruins.”

Behind the apparition of sonic broken machines fell from the sky and piled up. Every machine sonic has ever homing attacked or spinned on, Eggman saw them here. He slaps sonic, he tries to slap him, his hand merely phases through the ghastly hog who has now split into two, the left hedgehog became Rouge.

Rouge spoke in the voice of his grandfather. “You bring shame upon the Robotnik name, you’ve turned us into the laughing stocks of mobius. I’m embarrassed to call you my grandson! You took everything from me!”

Eggman buried his face and backed away. “I am an evil genius, my schemes aren’t bad, sonic is just such a menace. You never had to deal with him! You don’t know what it’s like.”

In between both of the hogs appeared a new apparition, Vector, with uncomfortably tall legs that let him tower over him, and who spoke with his dear mother’s voice. “Ivo…more like.... Ivo always hated you. Gottem.”

Eggman broke down into ugly tears and piercing wails. More apparitions surrounded him from every angle, rows upon rows of them. They began to kick him relentlessly. 

“PLEASE! HAVE MERCY!”

The doctor shut his eyes and screamed so loud he couldn’t hear them anymore. The doctor removed his hands from his face and slowly reopened his eyes, the nightmare was over. Sonic was still in his steel cage, silently judging him. The doctor couldn’t help but to laugh in relief. “Hohohoho…… nice trick hog, nice trick.” The doctor said while still laying on the floor.

Sonic rolled his eyes. “I didn’t DO anything.”

The doctor laughed it off and got up again, walking away and heading straight for his egg chamber(egg man’s bedroom). Sonic was stupid if he thought that little show from earlier was going to work on a genius like him. He was just trying to psyche him out so he’d give up. 

“Oh I’ll show him… I just need to take the edge off.” 

He opened his cabinet and got out a bottle of whisky with the seal still intact and a shot glass. He fixed himself a drink and drank slowly while reclining in his egg chair……….. Before long, one drink became two, then three, then four. He was going to have to take a super laser piss now. He went through the now darkened hall to the egg bathroom and did his business. 

On Eggman’s return trip, he was more aware of his surroundings. They were so quiet these days, and colder than he remembered too. If there was any hamster scurrying about, he could not hear it.  
“What will it take to find you? Have I not suffered enough? Has my sacrifice been IN VAIN!” On his knees shouted to the heavens. He tears off his four pronged nipple jacket and presents his bare chest for fate to take him away. “I’m ready Shadow the Hedgehog! Take me away! End my pain!”

A light manifested on his ceiling, it grew and grew, and in that light was a window to another world. an ethereal figure floated out. It was fuzzy, and odd, it was covered with eyes, sunflower seeds, and wings. it was a biblically accurate hamster.

“BE NOT AFRAID, MY CHILD.” speaketh the hamster.

“Mary Ann, is that you?” He whimpered. 

“I AM NO LONGER OF THIS WORLD. I HAVE DEPARTED MANY DAYS AGO. BUT DO NOT BLAME YOURSELF. I AM IN A BETTER PLACE NOW.” said the hamster. Eggman crawled forward to feel it’s embrace, he tries to hug her, but she slips through his grasp each time. His eyes got wet, he didn't know what emotion he was feeling anymore, except that he really wanted to get another drink.

“So, it’s a good thing that I'm a bad pet owner, because.. you’re in heaven now.” He laughed. 

“MY CHILD. DON’T LOOK BEHIND YOU.” Spoke the hamster. 

Eggman looked behind him, his shadow was growing, it became alive and gained mass, real tangible form like a cloud of thick smoke. It cracked and boiled. It opened it’s two red glowing eyes, the light from it’s eyes went to other parts of it’s form, to the back of it’s head and to it’s large hands. It became taller than the doctor and casted darkness on to him, even the angel was afraid. it flees and leaves the doctor in the hands of the beast. 

“Where is Mary Ann, Doctor?” it’s voice was loud and echoey, and it was Shadow’s. “You have her right? I miss her.”

“Sha-Sh-Shad-sh…” He choked. 

“You betrayer. I have placed my trust in your hands. I given you the thing which I dearly love, and SHATTERED IT. Now I have nothing to love. All that’s left is hatred.”

“N-now, don’t be so rash. It’s just a hamster” he coughs. “They only live for about 2 years anyways, natural causes and what not , and, and…oh please mister shadow, have mercy on your old man.”

“NO! You will pay with your BLOOD!” The shadow screeched. 

The drunken egg ran as fast as he could to get away from his own shadow which he could never escape. It consumed all in its path, once the egg moved forward it was impossible to move back, he believed his room would be safe but the only way in now was the long way round. It might as well have been an eternity under this pressure. Once Eggman was in he slammed the door shut and barricaded all entrances. But nothing would stop the pounding and banging from the outside the walls, or was the pounding just his aching head.

“What have I done to deserve this?” He wailed while fixing himself another shot glass of whisky. He drinks it all in one big swig and slams his face into the desk. “MARY AAAANN!”

The shadow howled once more. “YOU TOOK HER FROM ME! YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!”

The doctor picked up the bottle and drank from it directly. 

“Your fate has already been sealed! Do you think you can defy it now?”

“No. I don’t, If shadow wants me, he can get me. These last hours, I’m going to spend doing what I should have been doing the whole time.”

He tears down one of the barricades he just put up, and goes to the closet he stuffed Bocoe and Decoe in. He smiled softly with his hand resting on the tall one’s cheek. His thumb brushed away the thin layer of dust that has already begun to gather. He pulls them both out quickly and piles the brothers on his strong back. He hurried back to his room, as fast as he can without tripping and falling from how wobbly and shaky his legs are from the intoxication. 

He gets anxious at his door when he hears the shadow creeping back in. He had to put the barricade back up when he got in. But it was worth all the trouble. Eggman embraced his two robots warmly. 

“I know you can’t hear me, but no matter what, please know, daddy loves you.” He squeezed them tighter and took another swig of whisky. He couldn’t stay awake any longer, his eyes were heavier than his heart right now. The doctor fell asleep in their broken metallic embrace.


End file.
